ODR Newsletter – Diversions Winter 2022

In my 25 years as a Superior Court judge, I often had to sentence someone and had no option of any viable community-based care. The default was either county jail or state prison for many people who, in hindsight, could have flourished under care in the community.

Throughout the pandemic, ODR’s Overdose Education + Naloxone Distribution program (OEND) helped prevent deaths from opioid overdose through training and targeted community distribution of naloxone.

ODR’s jail-based diversion work serves more than 2,500 people per day with meals and health and other services in over 75 houses, bringing people out of the County jails and into programs that help them live their lives.

ODR’s Reentry programs provide support and services to people reentering society after incarceration. These services, such as employment, can increase public safety and reduce recidivism and homelessness by helping people achieve the stability and support they need to reintegrate into society.

Through its diversion on Youth Diversion and Development (YDD), ODR has diverted more than 1,000 youths into community-based youth development and restorative justice services. Research demonstrates that contact with law enforcement can change a young person’s life for the worst, so ODR has worked to prevent even more young people from ever entering the justice system.